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 The Dow eased back into negative territory for the year, a day after
closing at its first record high of 2014.
The April jobs report, which is expected to show U.S. employment
rose at its fastest clip in five months based on a Reuters survey of
economists, could further confirm the economic momentum is back on
track after a dismal winter. <ID:L2N0NL1EX>
Thursday's U.S. April car sales showed a rebound from the winter,
and General Motors <GM.N> shares gained 1.2 percent to $34.90. They
followed an upbeat view of the economy from the Federal Reserve on
Wednesday.
Facebook <FB.O>, up 2.3 percent at $61.15, and other Internet shares
were among the day's best performers, helped by strong results from
Yelp <YELP.N>, whose shares gained 9.8 percent to $64.02.
Tech shares had sold off in recent weeks on concerns that they,
along with biotech "momentum" names, were overvalued. The Nasdaq
lost 2 percent in April compared with the Dow and S&P 500's slight
gains.
"Some of the growth names are coming back. They've been really kind
of beaten down mercilessly, and I think (the bounce) has to do with
the fact that earnings are being perceived as OK in some of those
sectors," said Bruce Zaro, chief technical strategist at Delta
Global Asset Management in Boston.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> fell 21.97 points or 0.13
percent, to 16,558.87, the S&P 500 <.SPX> lost 0.27 points or 0.01
percent, to 1,883.68 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 12.896
points or 0.31 percent, to 4,127.451.
Among other Internet gainers, TripAdvisor Inc <TRIP.O> added 3.4
percent to $83.50 while Amazon.com <AMZN.O> rose 1.2 percent to
$307.89. The Global X Social Media index ETF <SOCL.O> rose 2.5
percent.
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After the bell, however, shares of LinkedIn <LNKD.N> fell 2.7
percent to $156.85 after it forecast 2014 revenue below analysts'
expectations. Expedia <EXPE.O> shares dipped 1.5 percent to $72.80
even as its adjusted profit topped expectations.
During the regular session, the biggest drag on the S&P 500 was
Exxon Mobil <XOM.N>, which declined 1 percent to $101.41 despite
reporting first-quarter earnings that exceeded expectations.
DirecTV Inc <DTV.O> rose 4.1 percent to $80.76 after the Wall Street
Journal reported that AT&T Inc <T.N> had approached the company
about a possible acquisition. Shares of AT&T dipped 0.3 percent to
$35.58.
Early Thursday, jobless claims unexpectedly rose in the latest week,
though the underlying trend continued to point to an improving labor
market. U.S. consumer spending recorded its largest increase in more
than four and a half years in March.
About 6.4 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, below the
6.7 billion average of the last five days, according to data from
BATS Global Markets.
(Editing by Bernadette Baum and Nick Zieminski)
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